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The Arthur Morris Zambian
British Library Collection
Zambia
The name Zambia derives from the Zambezi River (Zambezi may mean "the grand river"). Zambia (/ˈzæmbiə, ˈzɑːm-/), officially the Republic of Zambia (Bemba: Icalo ca Zambia; Tonga: Cisi ca Zambia; Tumbuka: Chalo cha Zambia Lozi: Naha ya Zambia; Nyanja: Dziko la Zambia), is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa. Its neighbours are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique to the southeast, Zimbabwe and Botswana to the south, Namibia to the southwest, and Angola to the west. The capital city of Zambia is Lusaka, located in the south-central part of Zambia. The population is concentrated mainly around Lusaka in the south and the Copperbelt Province to the north, the core economic hubs of the country. Originally inhabited by Khoisan peoples, the region was affected by the Bantu expansion of the thirteenth century. Following European explorers in the eighteenth century, the British colonised the region into the British protectorates of Barotseland-North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia towards the end of the nineteenth century.
The Bantu People
The Bantu people or Abantu (meaning people) are an enormous and diverse ethnolinguistic group that comprise the majority of people in much of eastern, southern and central Africa. Due to Zambia's location at the crossroads of Central Africa, Southern Africa, and the African Great Lakes, the history of the people that constitute modern Zambians is a history of these three regions. Many of the historical events in these three regions happened simultaneously, and thus Zambia's history, like many African nation's, cannot be presented perfectly chronologically. The early history of the peoples of modern Zambia is deduced from oral records, archaeology, and written records, mostly from non-Africans. Bantu origins Batonga fisherwomen in Southern Zambia. Women have played and continue to play pivotal roles in many African societies.
The Bantu people originally lived in West and Central Africa around what is today Cameroon and Nigeria. Around 5000 years ago they began a millennia-long expansion into much of the continent. This event has been called the Bantu expansion; it was one of the largest human migrations in history. The Bantu are believed to have been the first to have brought iron working technology into large parts of Africa. The Bantu Expansion happened primarily through two routes: a western one via the Congo Basin and an eastern one via the African Great Lakes. First Bantu settlement The first Bantu people to arrive in Zambia came through the eastern route via the African Great Lakes. They arrived around the first millennium C.E, and among them were the Tonga people (also called Ba-Tonga, "Ba-" meaning "men") and the Ba-Ila and Namwanga and other related groups, who settled around Southern Zambia near Zimbabwe. Ba-Tonga oral records indicate that they came from the east near the "big sea". They were later joined by the Ba-Tumbuka who settled around Eastern Zambia and Malawi. These first Bantu people lived in large villages. They lacked an organised unit under a chief or headman and worked as a community and help each other in times of field preparation for their crops. Villages moved around frequently as the soil became exhausted as a result of the slash-and-burn technique of planting crops. The people also keep large herds of cattle, which formed an important part of their societies.
(Sourced from Wikipedia)
The Collection
Housed at the British Library Sound Archive, the Arthur Morris Jones (1889–1980) Africa Collection is varied in terms of the number of cultures and countries it covers. Jones was a missionary based in Zambia from 1923 until the early 1950s. He is considered one of the pioneers of African music studies. He was stationed at St Mark's School in Mapanza in the Southern Province of present-day Zambia (called Rhodesia at the time). He is best known for his ethnomusicological work, particularly his two-volume Studies in African Music. He made an important contribution to the literature with his work in African rhythmic structure.
(Sourced from the British Library Sound Archive)
This music belongs to the British Library. All the music of this page has been recorded and preserved by the British Library Sound Archive under World and Traditional Music and can also be found on their website with more detailed information.
Source: The British Library Sound Archive
Arthur Morris Jones Collection
Official British Library Sound Archive Website - World and Traditional Music
Photo: Zambia Women of Lozi 1952
Supporting the British Library Sound Archive